Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Vogels said Amazon requires no
commitment from users of its Cloud computing platform, even though its clientele
includes US government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and successful Internet
businesses, such as Instagram and Pinterest.

Traditionally, Cloud
providers have ruled customer relationships, locking buyers into long-term
commitments and causing them to feel as if they lack control, Vogels said. He
explained that Amazon took a more flexible approach because of its philosophy
that it would only be successful if its customers are successful.

“If we
are not meeting our promises, the customers can always walk away,” he said, “and
that’s how it should be. We should be on our toes.”

Vogels listed
“low cost” as another attractive element of AWS, saying that Amazon has lowered
prices 20 times in the past five years without any competitive
pressure.

“We did that because we believe it’s the right thing to do, and
our goal is to eventually drive the cost of our services down to a point where
you no longer have to think about it,” he said. If this can be achieved, “then
we can drive such tremendous innovation and everybody can start pursuing their
dreams.”

Vogels noted that many Israeli firms use Amazon Web Services,
explaining that a range of companies, such as Waze Mobile, have been successful
“purely because their use of web services allows them to scale fast.”